Meet Mark

Let me introduce myself. My name is Mark Sisson. I’m 63 years young. I live and work in Malibu, California. In a past life I was a professional marathoner and triathlete. Now my life goal is to help 100 million people get healthy. I started this blog in 2006 to empower people to take full responsibility for their own health and enjoyment of life by investigating, discussing, and critically rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true about health and wellness...

Becoming Fat-Adapted Has Been the Key To My Success!

It’s Friday, everyone! And that means another Primal Blueprint Real Life Story from a Mark’s Daily Apple reader. If you have your own success story and would like to share it with me and the Mark’s Daily Apple community please contact me here. I’ll continue to publish these each Friday as long as they keep coming in. Thank you for reading!

At the end of 2013 I was getting ready to begin my last semester of college, but unfortunately I was quickly closing in on 310 pounds at 21-years-old. I knew that I needed to make some changes if I was going to enjoy this life that I was given. So I embarked on a journey to lose weight and I went about it the best way I knew how … Calories in vs. Calories out. I began restricting my caloric intake to ~1,200 calories a day and trying to exercise as much as possible. I would run close to 30 miles/week and try to play basketball or raquetball on top of that to burn the maximum number of calories possible. My diet consisted of relatively low carb, low fat, low sugar blandness that was miserable to eat, but I was determined to lose the weight so I willed myself through it with excuses like “ I lost the genetic lottery, so this is the only way for me to be healthy.” I was successful too, in 5 months I lost over 90 pounds and was leaner than I had ever been in my life. As the months ticked on, I found it harder and harder to maintain the success that I had found.

I began dating my wife long distance in April of 2015, and I was no longer interested in counting calories, watching what I ate, or running 30 miles a week. I just wanted to spend time with her and have fun! Throughout our dating relationship and the first few months of marriage my weigh creeped back up. We were enjoying being young and in love with “frozen dairy treat” (Ice cream), “Hot Now” Krispy Kreme Donuts, and not spending time exercising. Naturally, my weight began to balloon, and before I knew it I was back over 270 lbs. Something had to give. I had worked too hard to lose all the weight to just let it all go, but I didn’t have it in me to cut my caloric intake way back and to run like I did the first time. I was desperate and willing to try anything.

Several friends and family members had done this weird thing called Whole30®, and said that they really felt better and that maybe I should give it a try. I got the book, sat down and read the entire thing in one night. I was fascinated with how the food we eat affects our bodies, minds, and health. On August 8, 2016 (two days after my birthday because I needed that one last binge of ice cream, cake, and beer) my wife and I began our Whole30. The results were stunning! We both lost weight, had more energy and generally felt better than we ever had. This food stuff must really work! Since we had such great success and felt so good we decided to just keep going after the thirty days were up.

I began consuming as much information as I could about the paleo/primal lifestyle which is when I discovered Mark’s Daily Apple. I found that the information Mark provides is accessible and balanced. It has provided me with ideas and concepts that helped me to tweak and adjust my eating strategy and allow me to make the changes I was making sustainable. I breezed through The Primal Blueprint and when The Keto Reset came out I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I implemented Primal Blueprint Fitness and have seen dramatic changes in my body composition. My muscles are more defined than ever, and I have been amazed at how easy it has been to build muscle while not killing myself at the gym!

Becoming fat adapted has been the key to my success! I was once dependent on eating constantly to fuel my body, but I implemented intermittent fasting as a daily practice. I typically drink a cup or two of coffee with coconut oil in the morning and then do not eat until four or five in the afternoon. I have found that my energy has increased and my weight loss has quickened.

In January of this year I stepped on the scale for the first time in a few months, I was amazed at what I saw. 197 pounds. My jaw dropped, I stepped off the scale and then back on. 197 pounds it read again. For the first time in over ten years I was under 200 pounds! More importantly, I have more energy, I feel better and I just generally enjoy life more than I ever have before. Thank you, Mark, for providing a resource for people like me to tap into. Thank you for making information accessible and digestible. Thank you for helping me to change my life!

Rob, what a great story! Congrats! You and your wife look gorgeous and so happy! I’m curious to know if you struggled to transition from paleo/primal eating into keto/fasting. I’ve been Paleo for 7 years, have lost over 100lbs, but have more to go and am struggling to maintain keto with a very busy lifestyle and lots of activity (like biking to work and training for a hike). Any tips for success?